Jay-Z Declares Himself The Bob Dylan Of Rap

Jay-Z dropped “Open Letter” today, a new song which addresses the controversy of his recent vacation to Cuba in the rapper’s typical, swagger-filled fashion:

I done turned Havana to Atlanta Guayabera shirts and bandanas Every time you think they got me I switch the planna Bulletproof this, radio scanners Ballin’ ’til they ban us You gettin’ too much bread, they try to jam you Boy from the hood but got White House clearance Sorry y’all, I don’t agree with y’all appearance

Surprisingly, the White House felt compelled to give an official response. Obama press secretary Jay Carney clarified that a trip to Cuba would fall under the jurisdiction of the Treasury Department. “The president did not communicate with Jay-Z over this trip… …I guess nothing rhymes with Treasury,” Carney joked in a press conference. (Oh, really? “Pleasure me” didn’t come to mind?)

But Jay saved the best lyrics for the second verse:

Ya’ll almost want to start a revolution You know whenever I’m threatened, I start shooting, bark Catch a body, head to Houston I’m in Cuba, I love Cubans This communist talk is so confusing When it’s from China, the very mic that I’m usingIdiot wind, the Bob Dylan of rap music You’re an idiot, baby, you should become a student Oh, you gonna learn today Where the fuck have you been The world’s under new management The new role model, fuck this Zoolander shit

The idea of Jay-Z (who has already called himself “the new Sinatra” and “rap’s Grateful Dead” ) being intimately familiar with Dylan’s 1975 album Blood on The Tracks and “Idiot Wind” is fairly delicious — not since The Beastie Boys sampled “Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues” have we felt this excited.

And we already know Dylan is a fan of hip-hop, from his appearance on Kurtis Blow’s 1986 track “Street Rock” and his comments on Public Enemy and NWA in his book Chronicles.

But this got us thinking … who is the real Bob Dylan of rap? Is it Jay-Z? Nas? Chuck D? Bob Dylan’s grandson, Pablo Dylan? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

By the way, rapgenius.com commenter YaMamaShoCanRap has already penned a dis track in response to “Open Letter”: